Sains

Ille-et-Vilaine · CC du Pays de Dol et de la Baie du Mont Saint-Michel · INSEE 35248

A school and somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop.

Few services 29.6/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 60 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Sains (INSEE 35248) is in Ille-et-Vilaine (35), part of CC du Pays de Dol et de la Baie du Mont Saint-Michel. Population 468 (2023). ^[1]

INSEE density class: Rural à habitat dispersé (level 6). ^[2]

Data vintages: INSEE BPE 2025 · INSEE SIRENE 2026-09 · INSEE census (RP) 2023 · INSEE COG 2026 · INSEE density grid 2026.

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/35248-sains

Vitality score

Vitality score 29.6/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 60 % of the 17,894 communes of a similar size.

Compare this with communes of a similar size. The score measures how well a place is served relative to its own size band, and larger communes score higher as a rule — so it reads meaningfully against another village, and misleadingly against a town.

Measured but not scored in this model: Market. See the methodology for why.

Component	Value (0–1)	Weight	Contribution
Daily food	0	25	0
Social	0.63	20	12.64
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0	10	0
Public & culture	0	5	0
Population trend	0.32	10	3.22
Housing mix	0.59	5	2.96

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 0 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 1 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 0 of 4

Public services 0 of 1

Culture 0 of 2

Sport 0 of 2

Everyday services 0 of 3

Lodging 0 of 2

One square per service type, shaded by how many: none, one, a few, five or more. A blank square means none was counted — the sources do not distinguish “none here” from “not counted”.

A school and somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop. ^[3,4]

1 × Restaurant. ^[3,4]

1 × Café / bar (NEW SAINS CAFE). ^[4]

1 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE ELEMENTAIRE PUBLIQUE BEAU SOLEIL). ^[3]

Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Nursery school (maternelle), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy, Post office / agence postale, Library. ^[3,4]

All 25 service types, with per-source counts

Type	Count	Names	Sources
Bakery (boulangerie)	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Butcher (boucherie)	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Grocery (épicerie / supérette)	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Supermarket	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Cheese shop (fromagerie)	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [4]
Fishmonger	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Restaurant	1		INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Café / bar	1	NEW SAINS CAFE	INSEE SIRENE 1 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	1	ECOLE ELEMENTAIRE PUBLIQUE BEAU SOLEIL	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Collège	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
GP (médecin généraliste)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Pharmacy	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Nurse	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Dentist	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Post office / agence postale	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Library	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Cinema	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Gym / sports hall	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Swimming pool	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Bank	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Hairdresser	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Fuel station	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Hotel	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Campsite	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]

Market and village life

Market day: unknown — nothing found in the datasets or on the commune website.

Trajectory

1968: 569 peak 1982: 667 2023: 468 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 486 (2012) → 468 (2023): -3.7 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 569 (1990) → 468 (2023): -17.8 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 319, of which 20.4 % second homes and 6.6 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Primary school GP — 2.5 km SEBakery — 2.6 km SEFood shop — 2.6 km SEPharmacy — 2.6 km SE Straight-line, from the mairie, in the direction given. Services in the same town share a spoke. Distance is not travel time: a pass or an estuary can double it.

Bakery (Pleine-Fougères): 2.6 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Pleine-Fougères): 2.6 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

GP (Pleine-Fougères): 2.5 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Pharmacy (Pleine-Fougères): 2.6 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Primary school (Sains): 0.1 km to the west (straight line). ^[9]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 3.8▸

Days at or below 0 °C 42.8

Muggy days a summer 1.6

Each track runs from the 5th to the 95th percentile of the 34,141 communes with that measurement; the tick is the median. A value beyond either end sits at the end and is marked ▸.

An average of 4 days a year at or above 30 °C and 43 days at or below 0 °C, over 10 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[10]

Measured at the ST-GEORGES weather station, 4.1 km away at 6 m; the village itself is at 66 m. ^[10]

The village sits 60 m above the station, so each day's reading was shifted by 5.71 °C per km of altitude before the days were counted. Expect the result to be within about 0.68 °C. ^[10]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 2 days a summer. ^[10]

Humidity measured at DOL-DE-BRETAGNE, 10.7 km away at 19 m, over 11 summers. ^[10]

An average of 794 mm of rain a year, spread over 133 days — about 6 mm on a day it rains. ^[10]

Rainfall measured at ST-GEORGES, 4.1 km away at 6 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[10]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 35248/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 35248/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 35248/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 35248/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 35222
INSEE BPE 2025 — 35248
Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024

Villages like this one

Matched on size, density, second homes and which everyday shops and services are present — not on the score, so a village of the same kind that is doing better or worse shows up rather than being hidden.

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Nantes-en-Ratier	38	693 km SE	476	34.9	Few services	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 79 % · winter 0 % · humidity 86 %
Conflans-sur-Anille	72	185 km E	468	31.9	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 77 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %
Cenves	69	533 km SE	409	35.1	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 85 % · humidity 93 %
Marchampt	69	537 km SE	450	38	Few services	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 46 % · winter 65 % · humidity 86 %
La Dornac	24	446 km SE	407	37.8	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 51 % · winter 88 % · humidity 86 %
Choue	41	196 km E	512	30.8	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 77 % · winter 89 % · humidity 93 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Conflans-sur-Anille	72	185 km E	468	31.9	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 77 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %
Choue	41	196 km E	512	30.8	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 77 % · winter 89 % · humidity 93 %
La Dornac	24	446 km SE	407	37.8	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 51 % · winter 88 % · humidity 86 %
Cenves	69	533 km SE	409	35.1	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 85 % · humidity 93 %
Marchampt	69	537 km SE	450	38	Few services	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 46 % · winter 65 % · humidity 86 %
Nantes-en-Ratier	38	693 km SE	476	34.9	Few services	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 79 % · winter 0 % · humidity 86 %

Sort and compare these on the full list →

…and in much the same climate

The same match on size and services, narrowed to communes whose summers, winters and summer humidity are all close to Sains's. All three are required, so this section is absent for the 11.8 % of communes with no humidity station near enough to measure: two temperature axes alone cannot tell a muggy coast from a dry one.

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Cenves	69	533 km SE	409	35.1	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 85 % · humidity 93 %
Cappy	80	350 km NE	546	40.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 92 % · humidity 100 %
Colroy-la-Roche	67	646 km E	473	25.1	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 86 % · humidity 93 %
Montreuil-Poulay	53	81 km E	373	32.8	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 88 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Caradec-Trégomel	56	143 km SW	467	23.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %
Martainville	27	168 km NE	498	30.6	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %

Elsewhere

Commune website · Wikipedia (en) ·Wikipedia (fr) · INSEE dossier complet · OpenStreetMap · Web search · Map

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/35248-sains